ANGLERS say their club is as dead in the water as the fish they used to catch until a mystery sewage leak killed them all off.

Raw sewage has made the Old River Irwell Course at Irlam a no-go area for members of the Boathouse Angling Society, after dead fish kept floating to the surface.

And club chairman Roger Buckley said the stretch of water should also be off-limits to the public, who use it and the surrounding field as a recreation area.

Roger, 45, of Baines Avenue, Irlam, said: "You just wouldn’t believe the muck that is floating in the river - there’s everything from human faeces to whatever men and women also put down the toilet.

"It’s no wonder we keep on finding dead fish floating on the surface of the water.

"This has been going on since last July and we keep on being passed between the council’s environmental health department, United Utilities and the Environment Agency and no one appears to be accepting responsibility for the pollution.

"Obviously, we have had to suspend club activities - there’s no way we can fish in there.

"I’m also worried at the health risk to the local population. Children play on the fields and near the water, and people walk their dogs there and it’s just not healthy."

A spokesperson for Salford council said the matter was being dealt with by the Environment Agency.

Clare Palmer, from the Environment Agency, said: "We are unable to confirm the reason why fish have died in this particular stretch of water, however we would like to reassure the angling club and the local community that our investigations are continuing and we remain committed to finding the cause.

"We are in the process of consulting with various local groups to keep them updated on the action we are taking."

A United Utilities spokesperson added: "We are working hard with the Environment Agency to identify the source of this problem.

"Our engineers have thoroughly checked all our sewers and pumping stations in the area and we cannot find anything wrong.

"What we did discover was a contaminated surface water outfall. This means a drain which should carry rainwater into the river has some wastewater in it.

"We are helping the EA to track back where the contamination is coming from - it is likely to be from wrongly connected washing machines or new downstairs toilets etc."

She added that many of the local sewers near the River Irwell were unadopted because they are part of a new development near Fairhills Rd. This means they do not belong to United Utilities - they are the responsibility of the developer.